Birthdays & Going Away Parties Galore!

Ah April, though it is just another month of winter back home in good ol' Michigan, in Seoul it is the short window that they know as spring, where trees start to look less like skeletons, temperatures begin to rise, rain gently sprinkles the land and birds and little woodland critters begin to appear from their long, long winter's nap....

But before any of that, you have to get through April Fools day, and I believe I am now a shrewder person because of my sneaky coworkers at DOCS, though I have been tricked fewer times since my arrival than some (cough cough, Caroline, the other 'new' teacher. The '' marks are because we all officially hit the month mark a few days back). I made sure to not believe anything anyone said on April first this year, and I am quite proud to say none of the attempts at trickery worked on my keen mind :) But really I just ignored everything everyone said for the day and resumed my normal trusting-ness (aka gullibility) on the second.

Now that I'm done bragging about my un-trick-ability (on April Fool's Day at least) here is my Wednesday (4/1) in pictures :D


Taylor watching a movie in the gym with the kids after lunch, I believe there were only two kids in the gym at the time, and both seemed to think Taylor was the best seat in the house.


And here's Kevin, my little teacher's pet. He decided to do my hair, and then gave up and sat with me for the movie.


On Wednesday's they have ballet also (they have a wide range of classes, its very cool) and here is Eun-ho in his full-on gear. I love his little leg warmers! 8]

And of course, Miss Hopey showing off her Aegyo :)


Taylor got a funny parent's comment on one of his report cards, but besides the above, not much happened Wednesday (aka, I didn't take any other pictures and therefore can't remember what we did on 4/1).

4/2:
So on to Thursday it is!! Thursday was Danella's birthday, and we celebrated just as is expected...

WITH CAKE!!


Unfortunately it was banana cream cake and bananas and I have a long history of loathing, so I did not partake :(


And as promised, I will show all the Konglish I find, like the above. I was making an account for a Kpop account so I could buy tickets to SHINee World IV in Seoul (which sadly I didn't get tickets to, as they sold out before I could click fast enough, sigh) when the site asked my gender, one of the options didn't seem quite right...hmm...

As I said earlier, no SHINee ticket for me, as they sold out in record time (fighting!) but that's okay, because from my devastating loss came a blinding silver lining. The Seoul Dream Concert, which has over 15 Kpop acts (including Shinee, EXO, Girls Gen, BAP, VIX, ect) for roughly twice the $$ as the concert that would have been only SHINee, so I will be attending that instead at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in May. EEEEEEKKKKK!!!! :D

And that basically described my Thursday :P
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OH WAIT! You see, this is what happens when I write things weeks later!

We got our final new teacher this week! Laura from Manchester :) And she is a doll! She likes rock music and writes fantasy fiction for fun, so basically I approve. I remembered this because Taylor, Laura, Caroline and I tried to go to Pizza Mall after work, but because I was trying to buy SHINee tickets and because bars and clubs are open until the wee hours of the morning but restaurants close promptly at 10:00 (more like 9:20), we got all the way to Hongdae (in the rain) and Pizza Mall was closing up, then we couldn't find anywhere else to find food (because everything closes so early) so we wandered in the rain wifi-less (we all don't have ARC cards/SK phones yet) until we stumbled upon a little chicken place once we were cranky, wet and hungry. Welcome to South Korea Laura! Luckily she was a good sport about the disappointing adventure her second night in the ROK. And since she is from the UK, she said she is used to the rain :P

Now for Friday!!

4/3:

We had a busy weekend lined up for us! And it began with Friday after work rushing back to the apartment to meet the other DOCS teachers to go out for Craig's "Going Away Party" as Laura is Craig's replacement. We went to a Mexican restaurant, but it was closing (dang-Korean-eateries-closing-at-ridiculously-early-times strikes again!), so we went to a little pizza place near it, called A Table. I forgot to take pictures...woops. But the pizza was pretty good, thin and not nearly the American-grease-trap I am used to, but yummy and well made, plus I enjoy going out with co-people so much it makes every 'work-party' seem like a major treat! Afterwards we went to a cocktail bar where we enjoyed some deliciously mixed drinks and fun games until quite late, before splitting a taxi home. Below is Aaron teacher and Taylor before the cocktail bar.



And below is a little pineapple concoction from the bar. I watched the bartenders make a few drinks and oh my goodness, did they make it look like an art form! They spritzed and squeezed fresh fruits and wafted aromatic rinds and shook those little drink shakers like it was their only means to get a workout! But it all payed off as not a single drink anyone ordered was even slightly unpleasant or unbalanced, in fact, all of them actually tasted - dare I say it - good! Alcohol tasting good? I'm either getting old or have finally found that quality DOES make a difference! :O



And because, again, I am a sucker for selcas, and I can do what I want cause it's my blog, here is Taylor and I as we mosey from the bar.


And the cherry blossoms have officially arrived (in some places)! Spring has sprung! Ooh I can't wait to share my pictures from the Cherry blossom festival the following weekend! You guys are in for a real treat! But though my father says I can skip a week to get up-to-date on this blog, I don't think I could do that without stressful mental ramifications from the lack-of-order, so instead I will just speed through the next week whenever I can :)

Saturday

4/4:

As Friday was Craig's party, Saturday was Danella's (for her birthday) and her friend Bona's (who shares the same birthday, 4/2) party, but first, Myeong-dong for glasses with Caroline and Danella. Glasses, you say? But, Tierney doesn't wear glasses, you say. Yes well Myeong-Dong is a great shopping spot and I like saying yes to invitations, so Saturday morning I ended up in Myeong-Dong :) And from the sights below, it was a good choice!



Oops, I may have gotten some glasses by mistake...
but how cute are they!


And here is our daily selca, at a chicken-buffet which we indulged in for dinner for Bona and Danella's party start-spot. It was very good! And funnily enough, one of the spots Caroline, Laura, Taylor and I had attempted to go to after our Pizza Mall fail the Thursday before, but it was closing...but this time (7pm) it was open and worth the wait!

And Laura and Caroline :)

 And Laura (center), Caroline (right), and the birthday girls! Danella and Bona!

And a bit larger group photo, though this hardly does our group justice, we were over 20 people strong at some points in the night!

But here is a breakdown of our lovely evening that turned into a good morning, as nights here often do. After dinner and the above rooftop bar where Taylor and I enjoyed talking with people from all over the globe (Tibet, USA, UK, India, Pakistan, Korea (duh), NZ, France, and others I'm forgetting) and sharing and debating and questioning each other (all in friendliness, but it is very fun to talk psych or politics with people from differing cultures/backgrounds/degrees), we went to a 'western' style pub where we danced a bit, and then a noreabang (song room, aka karaoke room). Now let me give you a picture of this very popular Korean activity. In the US we have karaoke bars, where drunk people can get up in front of a crowd of strangers and assault their ears, I mean, sing, however in Korea you go to noreabangs which are essentially private theaters for singing with just your group/friends. Each room holds about 20 people comfortably and has a screen on one wall, two microphones, an extensive book of songs, along with a few tambourines (for cover-up noise I assume) and the full karaoke system. It was a very unique way to end a very fun night! Taylor and I even sung a couple songs! Taylor was quite good; I basically just speed-spoke "Forgot About Dre" near the end of the night when most people were fighting off sleep :) Then we grabbed some burgers and hopped on the subway for home around 7:00am...and then slept, and slept, and slept. And though Taylor and I had a very good time, we are not fans of staying out all night. We are lame and have decided from now on (usually) we will come home at the latest around 4:00, any later than that messes with our bodies and we don't feel very good for the next 24 hours or so.

Well, that's all for now folks! And I am only seven (or so) days behind now, so I will call it good and hopefully power through another week of writing tomorrow evening. Good night from the other side of the world!

All of my love,

Tea

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